Effect of Matric Suction on Shear Characteristics of Unsaturated Fraser River Sand

This paper discusses the shear strength and volume change characteristics of a loose Fraser River sand. Suction-controlled simple shear tests were carried out for the unsaturated sand. Drained tests for the saturated sand were also carried out for the comparison with the unsaturated sand. The increase of the shear strength of the sand with the matric suction is very small and there is almost no increase of that over 20 kPa of the matric suction. The suppression effect of the matric suction on the volume change bahavior during shear is small, and the degree of dilation increases with the increase of the matric suction.